Best Front Doors for Security: What Should You Look For?

A composite door can legitimately claim the title of the most secure front door as it’s built from robust materials, giving it an intensely strong composition. As well as possessing a solid timber core, reinforced layers of UPVC and fibreglass complement it, as do some other sturdy materials. Compared to traditional timber doors, it doesn’t suffer from any warping, cracking or weakening as it ages.

Quality composite doors will always have a multi-point locking mechanism, rugged glazing and high-security hinges. These dependable components help put them ahead of standard UPVC or traditional timber doors for resilience, worth noting if you want your home to enjoy maximum protection.

The front door material has as much of a role in safeguarding against home break-ins than the locks incorporated into their design.

A common trait amongst all the best front doors for security is that they have a solid, reinforced core for strength, restricting the likelihood of forced entries, even those attempted using the most brute force.

• Detailing the most secure front door material
  The general consensus is that composite doors are the most secure front door material available on the market today. Their durability and resistance emanates from them being made from a myriad of materials. A 3 star locking cylinder and solid steel hook locks also contribute to a composite door’s unbeatable resilience.
• What locks do secure doors use?
  The door material is, of course, important, but so is the door lock and the two things must work in tandem to stop homes being unlawfully accessed. As a minimum requirement, a high-security lock has to conform to British Standard BS3621. UPVC doors and composite alternatives contain multi-point locking systems that secure their designs at various points along the frame.
• Are UPVC doors suitably secure for UK homes?
  UPVC certainly possesses sufficient strength and resilience – essential ingredients in any door. Integration of a multi-point locking system ensures that a UPVC door will offer relentless home protection.
• Can you advise what is the hardest door to break?
  That would be a composite door, once again because of the amazing strength it has. However, it is critical that it includes a smart locking mechanism too, which all our composite door solutions have.

When searching the market for a secure door, you want a design made from a strong material that also incorporates high-security locks and reinforced frames to minimise the threat of a break-in occurring.

What else singles out the best front doors for security is any accreditations a door might have received, such as PAS 24 or Secured by Design.

Here’s some background information into a few of the best known and most popular door materials:

At the outset, traditional timber windows compare well against different door types for strength, but they are prone to warping and weakening over time, diminishing home security. Modern engineered timber doors are a better option if you favour a wood-built offering with excellent secure credentials.

A low-cost door, the UPVC door performs admirably in most areas, including from a security standpoint. It’s also amazingly simple to maintain and is resistant to problems like warping.

Strength is one of aluminium’s most pertinent upsides and it’s therefore a fantastic choice for securing a home.

An amalgam of materials are employed to construct composite doors, so they rank high for door security. Accomplishing a forced entry is close to impossible due to the reinforced core and impact-resistant outer layers.

It’s essential for a front door to have the following 5 security features:

A door with a strong core, the type you get with a composite door, is extremely hard to break and not in the slightest hollow or weak.

Just as it sounds, a multipoint lock secures a door at several points along the frame, unlike a door with just one singular lock.

The kicking in or forced opening of a front door is a thankless task when it has a robust frame and reinforced strike plate.

An anti-pick, anti-drill and anti-snap lock makes a burglar’s job of breaking in vastly more difficult.

Anyone who attempts a forced entry through the door or looks to take it off its frame will be seen off by any tough, tamper-proof hinges.

So long as they conform to the high-security standards, cylinder locks and lever locks are the best locking systems for a front door, with the British Standard BS3621 rating being a minimum requirement.

On the turn of a key, a cylinder lock functions by using the grooved edge of a key to shift spring-loaded pins within the cylinder.

Lever locks operate in a different fashion, with a bitted key lifting each lever to a precise height, which enables the locking bolt to slide into the metal boxed strike plate within the door frame.

Other locks worth mentioning include the mortice lock and the rim (also known as a nightlatch). You fit a mortice lock into a door’s edge and it’s secured by a bolt that slots into a boxed strike plate for strength. The rim lock is a surface-mounted lock that is key operated externally and via a thumb turn internally, usually complemented with a mortice lock for extra security.

When looking at potential replacement doors, it’s advisable to select one featuring a multi-point lock to get a door that locks at various points along the frame and gives you optimum protection against thieves.

Place the same importance on finding a good lock as locating a strong front door. Here is a breakdown of the most prevalent locks to be found in the UK, each providing differing standards of security:

• Mortice Locks
  Often used in wooden doors, mortice locks get embedded into front doors, securing them tight.
• Rim Locks/Nightlatches
  Nightlatches get fitted to the surface of a door rather than within their construction and are again, common in timber doors. They’re a convenient internal locking system, but should be employed with another high-security lock to fortify protection.
• Cylinder Locks
  A typical feature of UPVC and composite doors, cylinder locks offer excellent security, particularly when paired with a multipoint lock. Priorise a 3-star cylinder lock as it can resist snapping, drilling and bumping.

Not every door lock provides the same standard of security, which underlines the importance of getting a lock with BS3621 certification. It is only issued to locks that have proven resistance against forced entries.

Some home insurance providers make it a requirement that external doors have BS3621 locks, as they demonstrate top-level protection against things like picking, drilling and forced attacks.

For a glass door to be completely safe, it is essential that its glazing is reinforced and laminated and either double or triple glazed for utmost strength. If it harnesses standard glass, it increases the risk of a break-in occurring as it is easy to break and remove.

Toughened or laminated glass is considerably harder to break than standard glass, and if it’s beaded, it cannot be lifted out of the frame. We externally bead our aluminium doors with security beading.

Glass positioned near a lock is a potential problem, because if any intruder smashes it they may then easily access and undo the lock. Get over this scenario by selecting a lock needing a key on both sides e.g. double cylinder lock, or choosing a door with the glazing a suitable distance away from the lock.

A good number of front doors have glass panels in their design for decoration and to also encourage light to enter into a hallway. Glass front doors won’t pose a threat to security if their glazing is reinforced and double or triple glazed.

You should view the buying of a secure front door as critical as determining the finest front door colour and choosing some accessories for the design.

On reaching the end of this article, immediately go and inspect your current front door to see if it obeys the points given in the piece. Let us know if we can give any further advice on the best lock for a front door.